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Italia - Spain (Tribute to Baggio)

Next wednesday 28th of April at 21 CET Italy playes a friendly against Spain and I guess most of you know that "Il Divin Codino" Roberto Baggio will play in gli azzurri. I'm pretty sure he starts the match and plays about an hour. It will be his farewell match in Italy shirt and after that match he has only 3 matches to play for Brescia, then the living legend will hang up his boots.

It will be a sad day for football when a genius like Roby ends his career, he will never be forgotten and always remembered as the most popular Italian footballer of his time(which he still is). Just find some Italian and ask something about Baggio, everybody loves him. I know I will probably drop a tear if he scores for Italy or when he will be subbed. I hope I'll be able to see his last match in Brescia, he really is still a champion and in the age of 37 he is a world class player. He has shown that in almost every match he has played this season.

He has been my personal hero since 1990 World Cup and he's been the biggest reason I've learned to love football and especially Italian football. Back then my Inter fanatism was only in the beginning. I consider Roby as the best footballer ever (I know most people disagree with me...)

The Saddest thing is that Roby's career could've been better. Capello and mostly Lippi screwed him up many times. Capello demanded him not to play too forward and help the team in defence during his days at AC and Lippi did the same to him with Juve and sadly with us. Imagine if he had the offensive freedom players like Totti have now, he would be a bigger legend world-wide.

The thing that i respected the most about him is that he was never afraid of the challenge. What other star played for Juve, AC and us??? That takes lots of gutts. Also, in the twilight of his career he didn't play in a fancy league in Japan or Qatar or whatever, heck, he didn't even go to an easier league like LaLiga or the EPL.

The most telling thing about him is the fact that he is loved by money. As Jake said, any italian you ask will have good things to say about him. Who else demands that kind of respect?? Nobody.

I'm so unlucky because I only started to follow Inter's matches in 01/02. Tim has told me nothing but great stuff about Roberto Baggio in his Inter adventure. Why should we love Baggio???

- The double against Parma in the play-off for the Champions League spot in his last games with Inter.
- The double against the must-win game against Real Madrid in San Siro that got the crowd tearing the roof off San Siro.

And many more memories. It could and should have been more had that spy of Juve, Lippi, wasn't our coach.

Roberto Baggio should start the match and should only be substituted near the end of the game. It'll be an absolute disgrace if he's subbed on the half time. I hope Roberto Baggio can score a goal or just terrorise the Spanish defence, the way we know he's capable of. Unfortunately, everything that has a beginning has an ending as well. This applies for Roberto Baggio too. We'll miss you Roberto. Good luck in everything you do in the future!!!

I'm so unlucky because I only started to follow Inter's matches in 01/02. Tim has told me nothing but great stuff about Roberto Baggio in his Inter adventure. Why should we love Baggio???

- The double against Parma in the play-off for the Champions League spot in his last games with Inter.
- The double against the must-win game against Real Madrid in San Siro that got the crowd tearing the roof off San Siro.

And many more memories. It could and should have been more had that spy of Juve, Lippi, wasn't our coach.

Roberto Baggio should start the match and should only be substituted near the end of the game. It'll be an absolute disgrace if he's subbed on the half time. I hope Roberto Baggio can score a goal or just terrorise the Spanish defence, the way we know he's capable of. Unfortunately, everything that has a beginning has an ending as well. This applies for Roberto Baggio too. We'll miss you Roberto. Good luck in everything you do in the future!!!

Handyo

baggio's partnership with the fat ronnie was a sight to behold back then. Even though that 98 team was not as strong as the current INTER squad they play better football. As for LIPPI i hope he can rot in hell for pushing the divine ponytail out of Inter.

Giovanni Trapattoni has confessed that Roberto Baggio’s friendly test against Spain may not be his final Azzurri appearance after all.

“I don’t believe that he is ready to hang up his boots,” noted the Italy Coach, “and it is true there have been a lot of major injuries in the team recently. I don’t want to say anything, but only God knows what will happen tomorrow.”

This is the kind of statement that Baggio followers everywhere were waiting for – a suggestion that the Divine Ponytail could be part of the Euro 2004 squad.

The 37-year-old was sat beside Trapattoni in today’s press conference and insisted this will be his final season in professional football, but he would certainly not turn down the opportunity to take part in the summer tournament.

“Just the fact Trapattoni has said ‘never say never’ is already more than I could have ever hoped for,” smiled the Brescia star. “I am happy with this match, but if something else comes along then I’ll obviously be ecstatic.”

The door to the Azzurri has opened for Baggio five years after his last international appearance on March 31 1999 and was originally planned as a farewell gesture before he hung up his boots.

However, serious injuries to high-profile stars Alessandro Del Piero and Pippo Inzaghi mean that Baggio could be considered for the Euro 2004 squad.

“I need to give precedence to the group that earned qualification for this tournament,” added Trapattoni, “but in football you can never say never.”

Nonetheless, the wily old Coach warned the newspapers off starting a ‘Bring back Baggio’ campaign.

“Many things can happen from now until July, but certainly not affected by the pressure of the media. If that were the case then I’d call up 30 players and plan 10 million different line-ups.”

3,000 fans packed into the Stadio Luigi Ferraris this afternoon to witness the game between ranks and went wild when Baggio scored the opening goal – a fierce drive from the edge of the box.

At the end of this training session Trapattoni confirmed the starting eleven for Wednesday’s friendly match against Spain in a 4-3-1-2 system.

Oh!!! I will never ever forget this game. This game cemented my love for inter and i became a bigger fan. His second goal was really class; the night overall was unforgetable.

Yeah, what a great game that was. One of the best Inter games I`ve ever seen. I remember how Baggio rounded the keeper for his second goal, then held his hand next to his ear and listened to the crowd roaring.